Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I'm not usually a fan of futuristic or science fiction novels. However, I read this book at the recommendation of a fellow English teacher. The premise she explained was interesting: the book is about a group of "students" who were cloned for the sole purpose of supplying body parts. The story is told through the eyes of Kathy who is 31 when the book opens. The entire story is told in flashback since the bulk of the story is about her childhood at a school called Hailsham. The plot focuses on her and two of her good friends, Ruth and Tommy. It is a complicated triangle of tangled emotions.
I couldn't decide if I liked the book as I read it. I was intrigued by the way the author chose to relate the story, however. Kathy, the narrator, speaks directly to the reader, as if the reader was another character in the story. For example, when she is relating stories about the school, she says, "I don't know how it was where you were, but at Hailsham. . . " (p. 67) (I didn't think anything about the name of the school until the end of the book when the characters uncover the truth of their situation.) Because the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, the story takes on a sense of urgency, as if she needs to tell her story so someone gets it straight. This is especially true once you get near the end of the story and realize what her future holds for her. On second reading (once you know the end), you can sense her reluctant acceptance of what happened to her and Tommy and Ruth as she tells the events of their lives.
The narrator also announces that some events are significant before she relates them. For example, she says, "That talk with Tommy beside the pond: I think of it now as a kind of marker between the two eras." (p. 77) She says this before she even begins to tell us what happened beside the pond. The reader knows which events are important because the narrator specifically points it out; therefore, the reader must try to understand why the event is significant as Kathy tells it to us.
There are a few references to things that an American reader might not immediately understand, but none of them seem a stumbling block to understanding Kathy's story. The moral issues surrounding cloning are probably universal. I found myself wanting to get to the end so I could find out the great secret about Hailsham, which surprised me. If I had to recommend a futuristic book, this would be the one. (but I still don't like the genre)
I couldn't decide if I liked the book as I read it. I was intrigued by the way the author chose to relate the story, however. Kathy, the narrator, speaks directly to the reader, as if the reader was another character in the story. For example, when she is relating stories about the school, she says, "I don't know how it was where you were, but at Hailsham. . . " (p. 67) (I didn't think anything about the name of the school until the end of the book when the characters uncover the truth of their situation.) Because the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, the story takes on a sense of urgency, as if she needs to tell her story so someone gets it straight. This is especially true once you get near the end of the story and realize what her future holds for her. On second reading (once you know the end), you can sense her reluctant acceptance of what happened to her and Tommy and Ruth as she tells the events of their lives.
The narrator also announces that some events are significant before she relates them. For example, she says, "That talk with Tommy beside the pond: I think of it now as a kind of marker between the two eras." (p. 77) She says this before she even begins to tell us what happened beside the pond. The reader knows which events are important because the narrator specifically points it out; therefore, the reader must try to understand why the event is significant as Kathy tells it to us.
There are a few references to things that an American reader might not immediately understand, but none of them seem a stumbling block to understanding Kathy's story. The moral issues surrounding cloning are probably universal. I found myself wanting to get to the end so I could find out the great secret about Hailsham, which surprised me. If I had to recommend a futuristic book, this would be the one. (but I still don't like the genre)
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